The financial and environmental impact of unopened medical supplies discarded in the emergency department.

Background: Inefficient supply chain management within the US healthcare industry results in significant financial and environmental impact. Unopened medical supplies may routinely be discarded in the Emergency Department (ED), contributing as a source of unnecessary medical waste.

Objectives: Quantify the financial and environmental impact of unopened medical supplies that are routinely discarded in two EDs.

"EM Doc On Call:" A Pilot Study to Improve Interhospital Transfers in Rwanda.

Introduction: Treatment of seriously ill patients is often complicated by prolonged or complex transfers between hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa. Difficulties or inefficiency in these transfers can lead to poor outcomes for patients. "On-call" triage systems have been utilized to facilitate communication between facilities and to avoid poor outcomes associated with patient transfer.

A grassroots approach for greener education: An example of a medical student-driven planetary health curriculum.

Given the widespread impacts of climate change and environmental degradation on human health, medical schools have been under increasing pressure to provide comprehensive planetary health education to their students. However, the logistics of integrating such a wide-ranging and multi-faceted topic into existing medical curricula can be daunting. In this article, we present the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University as an example of a student-driven, bottom-up approach to the development of a planetary health education program.

Trends in Waste Production at a Community Hospital during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Introduction: As of September 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to 42,500,000 cases and 680,000 deaths in the United States. In Rhode Island, there have been 170,000 cases and 2,820 deaths. Investigating resource utilization and waste production during disease outbreaks can inform efforts at disaster preparedness.

Chin Numbness as a Presenting Symptom of Malignancy.

Numb Chin Syndrome (NCS) is a sensory neuropathy that was first described in the early 1800s. It has various etiologies, most commonly benign local pathology. However, NCS has been documented as the primary presenting symptom of systemic malignancy, most commonly breast cancer.